I believe the best art lessons are the ones where students get to bring themselves into the work. We study artists from across history and around the world, not as figures to copy, but as creative thinkers whose ideas can spark our own. From there, I design projects with a clear skill or concept at the center, and leave space for students to make the work their own through subject matter, personal narrative, or creative direction. Twenty-five students should never turn in twenty-five nearly identical projects. They should turn in twenty-five pieces of evidence that they were thinking.